President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. praised the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Champions Challenge, which encourages local governments to transform Philippine tourism with innovative ideas. At the award ceremony, he announced an increase in funding from PHP180 million to PHP255 million, celebrating the initiative’s success in drawing global attention and fostering creative tourism solutions.
In Manila, Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. recently praised the Department of Tourism's (DOT) flagship initiative, the Tourism Champions Challenge. This program motivates local governments to contribute actively to transforming the nation's tourism sector by offering innovative infrastructure ideas.
The ceremony, attended by President Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, also featured an announcement by the President about an increase in funding for the initiative. The President announced an additional PHP75 million, raising the total grant amount from PHP180 million to PHP255 million.
“I would like to congratulate the Department of Tourism for striking a rich vein of talent and tapping various stakeholders for innovative ideas that will energize and enhance tourism development in our country. For indeed, the best way to draw crowds is to crowdsourcing ideas and how to bring them in. The response to this Tourism Champions Challenge, I have been told, has been nothing less than overwhelming,” the President stated, and also extended her congratulations to Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
The President highlighted the submitted proposals as more than just ideas, describing them as "an impressive catalogue of creativity and innovation."
“It is also heartwarming to note that these are not mere proposals anymore, but they are existing projects of proven value and that have already shown unqualified success. This is the way tourism should be developed in our view, like economic growth, not relying on trickle-down, but built from the ground up,” the President remarked.
Further, the President mentioned the government's commitment to enhancing tourism infrastructure, adopting tourist-friendly policies, and drawing global attention. “The national government will build more infrastructure, implement tourism-friendly policies, and arouse interest from global audiences. As we move forward with optimism in our heart, let us commend Secretary Christina Frasco, the Department of Tourism, and the TIEZA for doing exemplary work on these ends. They have fostered a conducive environment for creative and innovative tourism through this initiative, which meets one overriding objective: Sa Bagong Pilipinas, Mas Maraming Bisita Ang Darating at Pasasayahin,” he added.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco described the event as a crucial step in the journey of transforming tourism. She outlined how the Tourism Champions Challenge was created to unlock the potential of Philippine cities and municipalities by encouraging them to propose sustainable and innovative tourism infrastructure projects. This initiative aims to enhance local destinations and communities and importantly, to boost the local economy.
Launched on April 5, 2023, the DOT, in collaboration with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), initially earmarked PHP180 million for the challenge. The selection process was thorough, moving from a call for proposals to the final project implementation and inauguration. It involved multiple evaluation stages aimed at ensuring the chosen tourism initiatives were both promising and impactful.
From nearly 100 entries, 15 winning proposals from across the three major island groups of the Philippines were personally recognized by the President and the tourism chief, with each winner receiving substantial financial awards to further their projects.
During his address, President Marcos surprised the attendees by announcing an additional PHP5 million for each winning local government unit, on top of their original prizes.
